Quiet campsite with cosy cafe

Merkins Farm is a delightful little rural site which has a lush green and grassy, yet beautifully level meadow for basic tent campers. There's also five hard-standing pitches for caravans or motorhomes. There are good toilet and shower facilities on site as well as a bright and cheery café serving hot and cold food and drinks from breakfast until afternoon tea. Perfect for relaxing over a proper cuppa, when the hardships of the camping lifestyle have become too much to bear!

There are good road and cycle links into the charming market town of Bradford on Avon and the site is also within an easy drive of Bath. A great site for groups and families alike, offering the ultimate in getting away from it all camping (but still perfect for those who must still have their coffee just so every morning)!

This is a fantastic campsite and testimony to this is the fact that it fills up
fast, so book well in advance, especially weekends and summer holidays.

The campsite itself is a smallish field alongside the river Frome. There’s child
friendly shallow river swimming here, by the old mill so be sure to pack your trunks
& cossies! The facilities are in a former stable block, there’s showers, toilets,
basins and dishwashing. The farm offers cream teas using cream from its own herd of
jersey cows – and fresh milk is available to buy too (although it is unpasteurised).

The nearest pub The Hungerford Arms is easily reached on foot, being less than a
mile away. It’s just reopened under new ownership and offers good traditional food,
at prices that won’t break the bank, especially the Sunday Lunches.

Stunning Views over Chew Valley Lake

Situated in the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Nettwood Farm boasts stunning views over Chew Valley Lake. A small campsite with pitches spread over two fields, there is ample space so camping here never feels crowded. The facilities are good and plentiful and the owners are very friendly and helpful.

Abundant wildlife plus den building in the neighbouring woodland will entertain the younger guests, whilst adults will appreciate the peace and quiet, perfect for chilling out with friends and loved ones around the BBQ. The aptly named Castle of Comfort pub is within walking distance and the site is perfectly placed for visits to the popular tourist attractions at Wells, Wookey, Cheddar and Glastonbury.

Great eco-friendly site within easy reach of Bristol

Brook Lodge Farm is a fab eco-friendly site. It has been recycling everything for donkeys years, way back when everyone else thought it meant going somewhere you’d already been on a bicycle! Steeped in rich local history with the Hannah More connection, it feels like a friendly stay in a (rather large) back garden rather than a campsite. There’s even a pretty courtyard garden for campers’ use.

The reception has a small well stocked shop and the facilities are good and plentiful. On one side of the track there is a large, tree lined, flat field, on the other, a smaller paddock, ideal for groups in 4 or 5 tents. There’s a children’s play area, a covered seating area as well as washing/ironing facilities, fridges/freezers plus a microwave for campers too. They also offer fire pit hire & logs for sale. I’m hard-pushed to list everything so suffice to say this is a brilliant site, where you’ll have everything you need to feel welcome, comfortable and relaxed.

Large family-orientated site with every conceivable comfort

Stonehenge Campsite provides a great range of facilities to make your stay as enjoyable as possible. From new heated shower blocks and washing facilities to friendly, helpful wardens, they have everything covered to make your stay one of the best camping experiences you've had.

They offer tidy, serviced plots for campervans and caravans and a pleasant mown meadow for tents. All of the plots have easy access to the washing and toilet facilities. The reception area holds a comprehensive amount of information on local attractions and the wardens are always available to answer queries and help with requests.

To make your stay more comfortable there is a Camper's Kitchen and washing up area, which includes sinks with hot and cold water, a washing machine and tumble dryer (plus free frisbees!). The toilets have recently been nominated for the Loo of the Year Awards 2015 following their success in 2014.

Woodland camping at its best. Campfires are a must!

Rocks East is set in beautiful woodland right on the borders of Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. It is only 7 miles into Bath but has so much atmosphere and plenty of woodland to explore, you won’t have any desire to leave at all! During the daytime there are gorgeous walks through the woods just waiting to be explored and for children, a sculpture trail of carved wooden animals.

Once darkness comes, get the BBQ going, pick yourself a choice spot around the campfire, dust off that old guitar and you’ll be set for the night. The site has good facilities including a little shop and encourages the more informal approach to camping. Here you can hire a fire tray, purchase logs a plenty, cook your food however you like and simply enjoy relaxing with your family or friends. That’s what it is all about.

Cool camping with fab facilities and farmyard friends

Tobacconist Farm campsite is a true gem. It’s kinda like back to basic camping with the luxury of great facilities thrown in too. Essentially it’s an open field where you can pitch where you like, the rules on arrivals and departures are fairly relaxed (just don’t take the mickey during busy periods though) but there are really great toilets, showers, indoor washing up and electric hook ups. Fire pits can be hired and be sure to look out for Lucy the exuberant owner delivering the log supply to campers on her mini quad, stopping for the exchange of friendly chats and tall tales along the way!

It’s a small working farm with chickens and ducks roaming about, as well as pigs and cattle plus some very friendly donkeys in the field next to the campsite. Minchinhampton is a charming little Cotswold Market Town, set on the edge of a vast common, great for walking, the town also has all the useful local amenities you could wish for. It’s in easy striking distance of many beautiful Cotswold villages and towns, but Stroud, Bath and Cheltenham are easily reached too.

Free-range camping with a warm welcome for everyone

Named after owner Jules’ parents Peter and Ruth, Petruth Paddocks with its two glorious fields of free range camping, fabulous facilities and festival feel camping is a very special place indeed.

Welcoming everyone including families, friends, groups and couples, Petruth Paddocks is friendly and refreshingly rule free and is doing a great job keeping everyone happy. The location makes a wonderful base for exploring Wookey Hole, Wells and of course Cheddar. The town is walkable for many pubs, shops and restaurants.

Kids running about, guitars being strummed, BBQs lit and many beers drunk then after dark the obligatory camp fires start popping up at almost every pitch, then your neighbour joins you for a brew or two and that’s what camping is all about!

Brokerswood Country Park

Hidden down a long and winding lane, this oasis of calm & relaxation is perfectly located in the middle of nowhere, deep in the Wiltshire countryside.

Brokerswood offers a great self contained holiday, with a wonderful campsite, good facilities, cafe, small shop and the whole of the country park as your backyard! Campers enjoy free entry into the country park – it is included in your pitch price.

There are dedicated campsite toilets and showers as well as laundry facilities with a washing machine, tumble drier, iron & a separate sink for hand-washing. Dishwashing sinks are also available & the hot water is free. The country park is great for kids, with two adventure playgrounds, a nature trail and a narrow gauge railway. The park also has a fishing lake and 80 acres of ancient woodland to explore with wildlife aplenty for the adults. There are BBQ and picnic sites throughout the park, and frequent organised events during summer weekends.

If you do feel the need to leave, then the market town of Frome is only a 15 minute drive, the town of Westbury with its white horse is only 10 minutes away and Bath is just half an hour. For tourist attractions, Longleat is the closest at 20 minutes drive and Stonehenge is 40 minutes away.

Greenacres Campsite

You just know a campsite is going to be ace when it is reached after miles of winding country lanes, dotted with brown signs counting down the mileage, willing you on, nearly there, building the excitement, not far now… and when you finally arrive, what a site it is!

Greenacres models itself as a family campsite, and so many little details back this up. There are toys galore, Wendy houses, little stepping stools under the sinks so that small people can reach to brush their teeth or wash their hands and there is even a microwave for sterilising baby bottles.

The facilities here are great, with very clean ladies & gents loos, separate showers, and a good recycling area too. The ‘Tinformation’ hut has local info & leaflets as well as a huge bookcase full of children’s and adult’s books and two massive tubs of toys. There are also fridges and freezers which are free for camper’s use. The farm has chickens and baby animals which the children can meet and the campsite also has bikes for hire. We were staying at Easter and there were tons of activities & fun stuff going on such as face painting and an Easter egg hunt with the Easter Bunny.

The campsite consists of a large field with a smaller spur, child free campers like us are allocated a spot in the spur, leaving the large area for families. The 40 pitches are kept strictly around the edges, leaving plenty of space for games & running about. When we returned after some local sightseeing, the whole campsite seemed to be involved in a massive game of rounders, organised by the hosts.

This is a truly spectacular family site, there’s so much for kids to do and the whole site is geared up to make family camping so much easier. And we all know that happy children means happy campers.

A great campsite serving up a little taste of rural Wiltshire

Located near the village of Monkton Farleigh, it is a walkable distance to the fabulous gastropub the Kings Arms, recently rebranded (to the annoyance of the locals) as The Muddy Duck.

Since 2014, owners Beryl & Adrian have created a beautiful site on a secluded plot of grassy woodland. They have a rare bat colony living in an old bunker on site and their cheeky free range chooks strut about the site, and will no doubt try to befriend you whilst they scrap for the bugs they know are hiding right under your feet. The toilet facilities are in handbuilt wooden huts and they nestle discreetly into the woodland glade feel of the site perfectly.

Camp-fires are allowed and fire-pits can be hired. Campers are actively encouraged to forage for firewood in the woods surrounding the site. This is a lovely site, and will be a real treasure for those seeking a rural retreat in the peace and quiet of Wiltshire’s wooded lanes.

Get away from it all at this rural retreat

Opened in July 2013, owners Emma and Phillip operate a family run and friendly site welcoming tent only campers. The field is large and level and they have great plans for planting and landscaping which will improve the aesthetics of the site in years to come.

The facilities are immaculate, housed in porta-cabins at the mo, but with plans afoot to provide permanent structures in the not too distant future. Despite being newly opened, the owners have really got it right straight off, with their thoughtful, fuss-free approach to running a campsite. They have tapped into to just what campers want, with the free range chickens which provide your morning eggs, the brand new reception/shop which sells the essentials and the fire pits available to hire. It is so very close to being Pitchperfect already and will only get better with time!

Mendip Heights Campsite

Neat and tidy Club site near Cheddar and Wells

This is a Camping and Caravanning Club site which welcomes non-members. It is a beautifully landscaped site, with prim pitches, neat gravel driveways and well manicured grass edges. The site has a pleasant tree surround on all sides and beyond there are outstanding views over the local countryside. It is a quiet, stress free site with a comfortable small park feel.

The facilities are good with his and hers showers and loos next to reception and a family room and washing up area. There are also picnic benches dotted about and a Children’s play area. The reception building boasts a small shop for your more immediate camping needs but the site is also within walking distance of Priddy village centre which has a farm shop and pub.

Idyllic hideaway near Wookey Hole

This is an adults only, tents only campsite. The camping field is accessed through a static caravan park, over a little stone bridge and once there it’s as if you have entered another world. The field is very quiet and peaceful with nothing but the babbling of the brook and the low murmur of other campers’ conversations.

It’s a spacious site with basic but decent facilities and is located in the village of Wookey Hole, ideal for visiting the caves and other local attractions such as the fabulous Ebbor Gorge, a great walking spot. The village has a local pub The Wookey Hole Inn serving food. The Cathedral City of Wells is very close and the towns of Cheddar and Glastonbury are also not far.

Friendly campsite with great views over the historic market town of Malmesbury

This is a nice friendly site enjoying a superior hillside location with stunning views over the quaint market town of Malmesbury. Great for families, couples and small groups of friends.

The tent field is gently sloping with stunning views whilst the caravan field has electric hook up and is perfectly flat, but enclosed by trees and hedges. The caravan field does take tents too. The facilities are great with plenty of loos and showers for the size of the site.

Malmesbury is a good distance from Cotswold towns and villages, and good for access to Bath, Bristol and Cirencester. The town itself is walkable from the campsite along a pleasant riverside walk and there are plenty of shops and pubs in the town to choose from.

A simple yet secretive site, hiding in a quiet lane

This is a small basic farm site, certified by the Camping and Caravanning Club. Situated in a beautifully quiet countryside location, betwixt the picturesque villages of South Wraxall and Monkton Farleigh, Orchard Farm is a friendly site with decent facilities, level pitches and stunning views.

The charming historic town of Bradford on Avon is a short drive away, and is great for shopping and eating out. The site is also ideally located for a jaunt into Bath, being just 20 minutes by car from the city. There’s a choice of two fantastic country pubs within walking distance, The Longs Arms in South Wraxall and The Muddy Duck in Monkton Farleigh. Both have great menus and serve excellent local ales and ciders. There’s even a short nature trail on site.

Perfect pub for a pint after pitching

Located halfway between Melksham and Devizes on the B365, The Three Magpies is a beautiful old fashioned coaching inn, with a gem of a campsite hidden away behind. The pub itself serves excellent beer and cider and offers good food at very reasonable prices if you don’t fancy cooking. Do reserve a table though, as it gets very busy, especially at weekends. They have a porta-cabin toilet and shower block, one for the ladies, and one for the gents, and the £1 shower tokens can be purchased from the pub. There are washing up facilities available too.

The campsite is nice and quiet and occupies a fair sized level field which is divided right down the middle by a small fence, so it feels very spacious even when full. The pitches themselves are generously sized, allowing plenty of room for tents, caravans and campervans alike. This is a lovely site, the welcome is warm, the pub is great, and the campsite has good soft grass. A happy camping experience indeed!

Blackland Lakes is a great place to spend time, for all the family.

This large-ish site feels like a much smaller more intimate affair than its size initially implies. The 15 acres are divided into seven paddocks, all different, all level, with lovely grass and soft ground and all beautifully landscaped and sheltered. There are plenty of showers and toilets to cope with the demand and a play area for the children too.

There are three lakes in total, two for fishing and one nature reserve. The friendly reception occupies a log cabin style building (as do the facilities) and features a small but well-stocked shop. This site really does have something for everyone, whether you’re a family wishing to keep the kids safely entertained, a bunch of chaps on a fishing break or a young couple looking for a secluded spot for a romantic camping weekend.

Bury View Farm Campsite

If you are after a relaxing campsite away from the hustle and bustle of modern life, yet only a short distance from the Georgian splendour of Bath, this might just be the site for you.

This is a small, quiet campsite set on a working farm, and run by friendly owners Sallie and Jim. The camping field is well maintained, level and offers lovely soft ground. It is the ideal place to relax and unwind, in a secluded field, but excellently located a short distance from Bath. Bristol, Wells and Weston Super Mare are all easily reached from here too.

There is a great pub, The Wheatsheaf, just 5 minutes walk away, serving good home cooked food, perfect for an evening of relaxing, playing cards, chatting with locals, or other campers, sampling excellent local ale and cider or enjoying a post BBQ pudding.

The campsite facilities are basic but always kept clean and the owners can often be seen mending, tending and fixing things up around the site. Dogs, children and groups are all welcome, and refreshingly there are few rules to inhibit your stay. Visitors are trusted to behave sensibly and respect the wishes of other users. If only more sites could be this simple yet idyllic.

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